Statement from Page Gardner, President and Founder of The Voter Participation Center

Today, in a decision that was a victory for the citizens of Virginia, the State Board of Elections rejected demands from the Romney for President Campaign and decided to allow 16,000 voter registration applications generated by the Voter Participation Center (VPC) to be duly processed by election officials. The Board also rejected the campaign’s call to investigate the VPC, saying instead they agreed with the civic engagement group’s goal to register as many qualified citizens as possible.

“We applaud the fact that the Virginia Board of Elections has decided to reject all three of the Romney Campaign’s demands and reaffirmed its commitment to increasing the number of registered voters in Virginia — where two million people are unregistered. This is a win for the citizens of Virginia who want to participate in the democratic process and an affirmation that the VPC program is legal, helpful and essential.

Because we share the board’s desire to improve the accuracy of the lists we use, we have instituted improvements to our lists processes that will be in operation for our September mailing.

We were also pleased that the Board made a point of highlighting their confidence in the Commonwealth’s local election officials and their ability to scrutinize every application that comes in to ensure that only eligible individuals make it on the rolls.

We are proud of our record of success – we have helped 1.5 million Americans register over the last 8 years. In this cycle alone we have helped 420,000 qualified Americans. 16,000 of them have submitted registration applications here in Virginia.

At the Voter Participation Center, we believe our democracy is strongest when every American participates.”